


fix your eyes on me

by Anonymous



Series: you don't put your book down even after it ends [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Aftermath of Starvation, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cats, Enemies to Allies, F/M, Family Feels, Female Senju Tobirama, Graphic Depictions of Hugging, Hurt/Comfort, POV Senju Tobirama, Siblings, Slow Burn, Time Travel, Warring Clans Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:40:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23834011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Tobirama recovers slowly, meets a cat, negotiates with Madara, and then goes home.
Relationships: Senju Hashirama & Senju Tobirama, Senju Tobirama/Uchiha Madara
Series: you don't put your book down even after it ends [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618027
Comments: 27
Kudos: 580
Collections: Anonymous, What Fen Do (Instead of Going Outside), When Death Loves Flamingos





	1. The Cat

**Author's Note:**

> This continuation has been knocking around in my head for ages and I was so excited to finally get to write it for you!

Although Tobirama expects her treatment at the hands of Madara and the old woman he calls Neko-baa to worsen as the days pass, that isn't the case at all. Rather than slowly creeping towards treating her like a captive, things seem to creep in the other direction, instead: she continues to be fed regularly, small amounts of broth for the first few days and then slowly easing into similarly small portions of other foods. She's offered water, more blankets, and books that she's much too tired to actually focus on. 

The room is even usually flooded with sunlight coming into the room, diffused through the shōji — at first it's too bright, and she feels exposed, but she grows to like the room. The interior walls are fusuma, opaque to light and featuring delicately painted mountains. They slide evenly when Madara or the old woman who seems to live here permanently come in and out, which they do somewhat frequently in order to give Tobirama another cup of broth or mouthful of rice. The first few days, when Tobirama could hardly stay awake for longer than it took to check that she was still where she thought she was, Tobirama had thought that this must be a safe house or an outpost of some kind, a secondary defensive position nonetheless secure and protected enough to house Tobirama. 

Tobirama has slowly come to realize that that's almost certainly not the case; no one would build an outpost or safehouse with shōji screens and fusama and a doting old woman who sings softly to herself while she's doing chores elsewhere in the house. 

This is a domestic residence. A domestic residence filled with more cats than Tobirama would expect: she's not an expert, but she counts no less than six different cats. That seems like a lot for a single residence, and some of them may even be different cats with extremely similar markings. For days, the cats wander into the room, inspect her from a distance, and then wander out while Tobirama is lying exhausted and hypervigilant on the bed. Eventually, several days after Tobirama's arrived, one cat in particular starts climbing up onto the bed with her. 

It more or less coincides with Tobirama deciding Madara definitely isn't going to kill her. Not here, at least, and not yet. The cat can tell that Tobirama has relaxed, she thinks, and finds that she doesn't mind the company — she never quite notices when the cat enters the room and frequently wakes up when the cat is already there, but the cat makes itself known before it leaps up onto the bed. It never startles Tobirama, and she never feels her personal space has been invaded even when it starts lounging across her stomach in a relaxed sprawl. 

"Shoo, you! How'd you even get in, bothersome thing?" the old woman who must own the house says the first time she discovers the cat on Tobirama's bed. 

Tobirama is well-aware that the old woman might be trying to drive the cat off out of concern for the cat's safety rather than because she's genuinely worried that the cat is bothering Tobirama. And Tobirama definitely doesn't _need_ the cat's company. It's just a cat, after all. But it's warm and not a threat and every once in awhile it's shifted around to knead one part of her body or another like it's making bread. 

Tobirama's not sure what that means — she's never been an animal person — but she doesn't mind. So that's what she tells the old woman. It should be a neutral enough statement. 

The old woman looks between Tobirama and the cat. "If you're sure," she says. 

"I'm sure." 

The old woman leaves the cat be after that, moving on to setting the room up for the day. She opens the shōji to let in some direct sunlight and even more fresh air. She produces breakfast — which today for the first time is not just broth and a small amount of rice, but also a small slice of fruit. She helps Tobirama sit up (a process which Tobirama is sick to death of, but not too prideful to accept as necessary) and then leaves Tobirama to her meal. 

The fruit is fresh and sweet. Tobirama eats it last, savoring the flavor. She's almost too full just from this small meal, and it makes her drowsy when combined with her chakra exhaustion, so she allows herself to sink back down onto the bed and rest. 

The cat lingers on the bed, stretched across Tobirama's legs. Later, Tobirama will discover that it's hard to forget where she is when she wakes up if there's a cat lounging on top of her. 

* * *

As the days pass, Tobirama keeps waiting for Madara to change his mind about the betrothal, but he doesn't. He comes to visit every day, after she's eaten her small meal but before she hits the late afternoon exhaustion that makes her mind slow and then sputter to a halt. Sometimes he pauses in the middle of explaining something to pet the cat — the same one comes back again and again, and only seems to lurk around the room _more_ when Madara is there. 

Tobirama is very, very carefully neutral about the sight of her potential husband-to-be, the Uchiha clan head, a ninja of almost unparalleled calibre, touching a cat gently. Like it's something precious that he'd hate to break. That information is...irrelevant at best, but possibly a deliberate ruse. One never knows. The only thing worth taking away from it is a proper cat-petting technique, which Tobirama quietly practices in private. 

She likes to know how to do things properly. Even things as useless as petting a cat. 

When Madara comes to see her they mostly talk only of the marriage arrangement and the peace that it might bring. Madara tries to broach other subjects — ninja wire quality, what Tobirama's preferred kunai type is, whether she likes the cat, if she likes fiction or nonfiction best — but even leaving aside the fact that Madara is still technically an enemy of the Senju, Tobirama has never liked conversations about herself even in the best of times. Tobirama will not risk her clan over small talk, and Madara is apparently determined to see the betrothal through whether he knows her favorite author or not, so there's no point in actually engaging. 

It saves time, as well; Tobirama is exhausted and weak, unable to work longer than a few hours at a time, so wasting her energy on anything except negotiating is irresponsible. She wants to nail down details so that Madara will contact Hashirama. So that she'll get to find out if she can go home. 

On the fifth day, when she's able to sit up in bed without the old woman's help, Madara says that he has to return to his clan. 

Tobirama is petting the cat this time and she doesn't let her hand pause. "Am I expected to go with you?" If so, he might as well kill her now and get it over with. Izuna would never be content to allow her to live. Especially not with the threat of peace on the horizon. 

There's a short pause. Tobirama keeps lavishing attention on the cat. She's slowly beginning to suspect it might hold some genuine affection for her, though she can't imagine why. It isn't as if she's been feeding it. 

"No," Madara says eventually. 

Either he had always planned to leave her here or he's correctly picked up on her subtext. 

He explains the schedule — a 48 hour round trip — and departs soon after. The trip, he had explained, was necessary because Madara hadn't actually told anyone where he was going or why, and the clan was unlikely to be put off by messages from his summons for much longer. 

Tobirama personally suspects that he'll be checking over the current terms of their peace accords and marriage with the clan as well and that he might come back having decided against both, but all she can do about that is wait. She's too weak to get very far on her own, especially in just 48 hours, and even if she could get away, she'd likely run into other ninja and die before ever making it back to Senju territory. Madara probably wouldn't have left if she weren't still essentially confined to bed. 

* * *

Without Madara's howling typhoon of a chakra signature lurking around the house, Tobirama is at least able to sleep like the dead for nearly the entire two days he's gone. She does have one strange interaction with the old woman, though: instead of leaving Tobirama to eat alone on the first day that Madara is gone, the old woman lingers in the doorway and then eventually asks, "Do you want to marry him?" 

Tobirama doesn't think it's actually any of this woman's business, but...Tobirama has been treated to unprecedented hospitality during her stay in this civilian woman's home. She can't bring herself to be dismissive, and takes a moment to seriously consider the question. 

_Does_ she want to marry Uchiha Madara? She thinks it will be a disaster — even if the peace holds, which she hopes it does, Tobirama doesn't expect she and Madara will have a particularly happy household. On the other hand, Tobirama knows there's no great love waiting for her except for the neverending labor of trying to set Konoha up so that it will outlive its founding members, a feat she's not sure she accomplished last time around. Things with the Uchiha were still raw even when Tobirama died. There might have been no way to patch the hole Madara's departure left in the village. There might have been no way to undo the harm of Tobirama killing Izuna on the battlefield. 

"It doesn't matter," Tobirama decides. 

The woman sighs and mutters _ninja_ to herself under her breath. She sounds fond rather than disgusted, at least. "Here I thought it was a yes or no question," the old woman says ruefully. 

Nothing is ever that simple, in Tobirama's experience, but she doesn't say that. What she does say is, "Whether or not I get married is a question for the clan to decide." 

When it's all said and done, Hashirama probably won't insist on the marriage to secure the peace, and the Uchiha might not either. Tobirama is sure that the possibility of her becoming Madara's wife at the end of all this is a large part of why she's been treated so well, so she's not exactly going to bring up that the betrothal isn't necessary, especially since Madara seems to think it will reassure the Uchiha, but frankly Hashirama might refuse for Madara's sake. Their father had always been sure she'd never marry, sure enough to encourage her penchant for wearing men's clothing. He'd said that putting a dowry together for her would be useless. Even when Tobirama had been a man, there had never been any talk of finding him a spouse. 

And even beyond _that_ possible barrier, Tobirama can't deny that it's possible that Hashirama simply won't respond to Madara's missive. He may assume that the Uchiha don't really have Tobirama. He may decide that trying to retrieve her is too dangerous to risk. Maybe he's already written her off, assigned her usual work to others, and it won't be worth the resources. Itama and Kawarama are both a little too young and hot headed to take over all of Tobirama's responsibilities, but no one is irreplaceable. 

She and Madara have to agree on the exact wording of the marriage arrangement, which is itself contingent on the exact wording of the peace treaty that both of their clans will require, and then Madara has to arrange for Hashirama to meet them, and then Hashirama has to agree to the treaty and the marriage proposal. Any step in the process could fail, and Tobirama only has control over these preliminary negotiations. 

Everything else is out of her hands, no matter what Tobirama thinks about it. 

* * *

When Madara comes back, Tobirama is lying in bed, half focused on tracking Madara's incoming chakra signature and half focused on tracking the cat's progress as it scales the foothills of her legs, balances precariously on the mountain that is her hip, and eventually drapes itself over the valley of her waist. Tobirama brings a hand up to pet the cat as Madara arrives at the old woman's house and pauses to take off his shoes. Then, to her surprise, Madara heads straight for Tobirama's room. 

He also knocks and pauses before entering. 

Madara looks the same as when he left except that he's unexpectedly without his armor despite having just come inside. His Uchiha mantle, the ubiquitous fire-resistant blue coat that all Uchiha wear, is folded over his arm, leaving him much more exposed than Tobirama has ever seen him, though his skin is still just as covered as ever. 

It's just...distracting. To see him dressed so casually. 

"No armor?" she asks. 

Madara sits down at her bedside. "I thought leaving it behind at the clan would make it clearer to Hashirama that I don't intend for us to fight." He's looking at her seriously, with that bright, determined light in his eyes again. "The clan doesn't think your brother will agree, but they like most of the terms." 

Tobirama can only imagine what Izuna had actually said — surely nothing as diplomatic as that — but it's not exactly a surprise. It's actually stranger that the Uchiha were willing to agree so early. Perhaps they've collectively assumed that they'll just betray the Senju first; if so they're in for a surprise about Madara's opinion on the matter. 

* * *

She and Madara go over the agreements several more times. Tobirama is better rested now than she had been when he’d left, allowing her longer waking hours and therefore more opportunity to debate. 

The more they work out now, before anyone else is at the table, the better. Madara needs a realistic view of how things will be, and Tobirama needs a better understanding of what the Uchiha actually want. One of the biggest mistakes last time had been that they'd never really _asked_. Tobirama had been too wary of Madara and his clan to insist, and Hashirama...Tobirama's older brother isn't stupid. Far from it. He's not even naive. But he is trusting — because he can afford to be — and it sometimes leads to him missing the mistrust in others. 

Last time, while Tobirama was looking for hidden plots and Hashirama was trusting Madara to tell him what the Uchiha clan needed without ever having been asked, the Uchiha clan were tightening their belts and resenting the Senju for never asking about anything more than the bare necessities for Tobirama to work out supplies and logistics. Neither Tobirama nor his brother had ever thought to turn to Madara or any of the other Uchiha and ask if they needed anything they didn't yet have. 

Better, then, to set expectations this time and prime the both of them for useful communication. It's too early to talk supplies and population size and number of dependents, but there are still useful things to be discussed. Clan culture. Division of labor once the village has come together. The domestic and international politics of the situation. The need for transparency between the two clans — in the beginning they'll need two people on all of the high-level positions, one from each clan, in order to be assured that both clans are equally involved. 

When she says this last thing, Madara leans forward a little. "I look forward to working with you closely," he says very seriously, as if it will be a valuable and treasured experience. 

He isn't mocking her —she can _tell_ that he isn't mocking her —but for some reason it still makes her face heat. She has to avert her gaze, looking out over the garden instead of at Madara's serious and handsome eyes. "I'm sure," she says shortly, uncertain what she's feeling. 

* * *

When the preliminary agreements are ready to be sent to Hashirama, Tobirama and Madara pack to leave first. They're some distance from the Senju lands, and Madara's hawk summons will travel much faster than she and Madara could, given Tobirama's condition. In order to make good time to the place where Hashirama will be meeting them ( _if_ Hashirama will be meeting them) Madara won't send the hawk until they're several days into their journey. 

The day before they leave, Madara provides Tobirama with a travel pack and — to Tobirama's surprise — a modest set of weapons. The old woman provides her with everything else, including men's clothing to travel in, which Tobirama is quietly relieved about. She hasn't complained about the floral kosodes, but she's grateful for the return to plainer patterns and hakama. Tobirama packs her bag the night before in slow fits and starts, frustrated by how weak she is nearly two weeks after regaining her freedom, and then sleeps in the bed in the old woman's house for the last time, falls asleep with the cat wedged against her side under the covers, taking advantage of the warmth. 

The cat is gone when she wakes up, and does not reappear while she eats. Tobirama stifles her disappointment while she ties the hakama in the masculine way, the way Hashirama had taught her so patiently in her first life. She thinks of him, her first oldest brother, every time she does small tasks such as this that he taught her first. Tobirama had hoped to see him in the Pure Lands, if they exist, but... 

Well. She doesn't love the older brother she has now any less than she loved the one she had then. 

She can sense when Madara is ready, lingering at the front of the house. That means it's time for Tobirama to go meet him, but there's a slight delay: when she picks her travel pack up, it seems heavier than it should be considering how little she'd put in it. For a moment she curses herself, her own weak body, but then the bag _squirms_. 

Tobirama sets it down gently and opens the top. 

The cat is in there, nestled between her spare clothes and her clean bandages. It looks up at her innocently, its feet tucked under its body, as if it has done nothing wrong. 

"Bothersome thing," Tobirama mutters, as the old woman had. That should be the cat's name, for how often it gets into places it isn't wanted. 

Tobirama is almost tempted to close the bag and continue on her way, but it would be a poor way to start things with the Uchiha, and an even poorer thank you to the old woman. She chases Bothersome Thing out of the bag — wary of picking any animal up, even one she's grown to like — and picks the bag up. She needs to conserve her energy and can't even bend to pet it one last time...but she supposes it doesn't matter. 

It's just, she tells herself, a cat. 

When she turns away, Bothersome Thing makes a sad, pathetic sound. Tobirama doesn't let herself look back. 

* * *

They stop when the sun begins to sink. Madara does the work of making camp. Tobirama, who hadn't even been able to travel on her own two legs, gets set down on the campsite and does absolutely none of the work besides building a fire from materials that Madara gathers, and even that's almost too much for her, as she's still recovering from chakra exhaustion and physical trauma _and_ starvation. She lacks the energy to even use her chakra to spark the fire. 

Tobirama suspects this kind of freeloading isn't endearing her to Madara, but he doesn't say or do anything about it. He hunts, starts the fire, and tends the rabbits he caught as if there's nothing else he'd rather be doing. It's safe enough for Tobirama to have a small amount of the rabbit Madara caught, and she saves it for last when it's cooled enough to eat easily. 

Madara watches her eat it like he's waiting for a critique, but Tobirama has nothing bad to say about it; rabbit isn't her favorite, but she's still surprised and grateful that he and the old woman have been feeding her. 

Absent any complaints, she thanks him awkwardly and announces her intention to turn in early. Much to her disbelief, Madara stoops down to sweep his hands over the ground, removing rocks and sticks from the area Tobirama is clearly eyeing for her borrowed sleep roll. If he hadn't, Tobirama would have been content to simply put her sleeping roll over them, unable to do it herself and unwilling to ask Madara to do it. 

She wonders what it means that he did it without her asking. She wonders what it means that he was willing to do it at all. 

As exhausted as she is, Tobirama hopes she'll sleep straight through the night. She's not expected to take a watch shift, and by now she's grown accustomed to having her sensing assaulted by Madara's chakra at all. It should be fine, sleeping on the group in her borrowed sleep roll. She should wake in the early morning to bird calls. 

Instead, she wakes before the birds. Much before, so early it might be late instead. She's shivering and missing the weight of Bothersome Thing on top of her, and she only knows where she is because Madara's chakra is just as much of a nuisance as always. Unbelievably, Madara's chakra is actually _comforting_ in the dead of the night. It's distinctive and it demands attention; Tobirama couldn't possibly mistake this situation for any other. She's grateful. But it doesn't solve her actual problem, which is being _freezing_. 

With her chakra so low, Tobirama can't warm herself with chakra. The fire earlier had only been for cooking, not warmth. The cold from the ground has leeched up into Tobirama's body, made her fingers stiff and her thinking slow. 

Tobirama sits up slowly, considering if she could move around to warm up or if that might just make it worse. She might try to stand and then fall. 

A hawk calls softly, despite the hour. 

Madara is suddenly at her side, alert. "What do you need?" Madara asks. One of his hands comes to spread over her back to support her as she sits up. His hand is _warm_ , so warm it sets off a new wave of even worse shivers. "Ah," Madara says, apparently having guessed without Tobirama saying a word. 

He frees her of her sleeping roll and slides his free arm under her knees. He lifts her in a slow and gentle motion. He carries her over to where he had been sitting before and sits down again, this time with Tobirama gathered in his lap. There's a flutter of wings and the drag of fabric across the ground — Madara's hawk summons bringing the top, quilted layer from Tobirama's sleeping roll over — and the quilt is is laid over her. 

Tobirama is tucked against Madara's chest, her head resting on his shoulder, and she's too damn cold and tired to be embarrassed. Madara's chakra has surged to new heights as he dumps it into the small space under the quilt. Tobirama can practically taste it when she breathes, can almost see its eddies and whirls when she closes her eyes. 

She dozes off in the middle of wondering how long Madara can keep this up; the answer turns out to be, apparently, as long as he wants — he's still doing it in the morning when she stirs. 

"I should have realized it would be too cold," he tells her while he's helping her change a few of her bandages — Tobirama has mostly bruises from her captivity, but her right calf has a knife wound from when she was captured, and her arms had gotten a little scratched up. 

The old woman had helped before, but of course it falls to Madara now. 

He doesn't even bother moving her off his lap while he helps her, and the entire time he continues to radiate heat. He even does it when they take breaks during the day, maybe because he's discovered that the warmth makes Tobirama relax limply on top of him like she's Bothersome Thing. Or maybe just because it's a surefire way to trick her body into sleeping, and he doesn't want to have to talk while resting. 

Whatever the reason...she likes it, even if she doesn't understand it. That evening, they skip the part where Tobirama tries to sleep on the cold ground as if she's not still recovering. It's awkward, that second night, to sit on his lap herself while he watches her with entirely too attentive eyes, but it's the only choice they have. It must be worse for him, as he couldn't possibly actually want her this close nearly every hour of the day. 

Tobirama tries to hold herself back from feeling sentimental about it. She tells herself that if Hashirama doesn't come for her, it's likely she'll be worthless to Madara and might need to escape. She doesn't believe it. Which will make her absolutely _useless_ when it comes time to aid Hashirama in negotiations with the Uchiha clan, but: she wakes up on the second morning to Madara tucking a loose lock of her hair behind her ear. 

She doesn't know what it means. She doesn't know why he looks at her the way he looks at her. But she...hopes. Recklessly, the way Hashirama would, with no regard for how the world actually works. 


	2. The Return

On the morning of the third day, Madara sends the missive requesting a meeting to Hashirama. He lets her read it before sending it off — it's an almost terse statement of facts, because it's all wedged onto a small piece of paper wrapped around the hawk's leg: _Tobirama is with me. Meet us at the Mazuya Inn alone. You and I will negotiate._

Tobirama watches the hawk wing away with her heart in her throat, and then tries to put it out of her mind. Worrying won't solve anything. Either Hashirama will arrive or he won't. She can only deal with what's already in front of her. 

Instead of stopping on the third night, Madara keeps running. Tobirama had already known that he has incredible — almost unbelievable — stamina, but it's still surprising. He doesn't rest, grow tired, or let her get cold. On the morning of the third day, Tobirama wakes to find they're approaching the civilian town where their rendezvous with Hashirama will occur. 

They make their way to the Mazuya Inn, where Madara pays for a room for the both of them while Tobirama leans against him, exhausted just from the walk into the inn from the street. The innkeep looks at her with both curiosity and concern, but seems content to mind her business instead of asking questions about Tobirama's face full of healing bruises. 

"We're turning the rooms over now," the innkeep says, "but perhaps my honored guests would like to avail themselves of the bathhouse...?" 

Tobirama would probably drown trying to bathe alone, and she doubts this place has mixed-gender bathing. Nor does she think Madara would relish being forced to help her undress, wash, and get in and out of the bath. The old woman had helped her bathe before they left, anyway. 

"Perhaps later," Madara says for the both of them, either able to tell Tobirama's likely answer from her slight shift in posture or just unwilling to entertain the idea at all himself. 

So they settle in the inn's front room, Madara half-supporting Tobirama on her way over there and then keeping a hand on her back to support her as she sinks onto the nearest seating option, which turns out to be a couch in the civilian city-style. Tobirama is therefore able to sit back and let the furniture support her, rather than straining herself to sit up as she would if the front room were furnished traditionally with tatami and cushions. 

Madara sits beside her, stretched out and loose, their bags at his feet. To the innkeep, she and Madara probably both look relieved to sit down and rest, but Tobirama knows differently. Madara is sitting so he can see the whole room and the entrance to the inn, and he could be on his feet and killing someone in seconds. He won't _have to_ , hopefully, but he's clearly prepared to do so. 

Probably because this is a hostage exchange, and they have no idea what Hashirama's answer will be. For the first time, Tobirama considers that Madara is, in fact, putting himself in quite a lot of danger. Tobirama thinks it's more likely that Hashirama will ignore the summons and leave her to her own devices than that he'll take the opportunity to try and kill Madara, but it's possible. He _could_ show up with Tōka and Kawarama and Itama to overpower Madara. Their father would have done it; most ninja would at least consider it. Given that Madara has run through the night, spent several days dumping chakra from his system to keep Tobirama warm, and left his armor behind...Hashirama might not even need the extra help for an easy victory. 

To be honest, there had been a time early in this life when Tobirama had thought maybe she should just arrange both Izuna’s and Madara's untimely deaths. It would probably be easier to just clear them from the field, Tobirama had once reasoned with herself. The village could come together without either of them. But she had decided against it then — better to deal with known entities and better to not remove the bond driving Hashirama hardest towards creating the village — and now the idea of Madara dying here repulses her. 

Later, when she's been home for some time and her body isn't still heated with Madara's chakra and a little flushed from the memory of his touch...maybe then she'll be able to look at such a possibility from the pragmatic standpoint required when engaging in a hostage exchange. But for now, Tobirama quietly wishes for a peaceful exchange, assuming there's to be an exchange at all. 

The room, when it's ready, is furnished again in the city style, with two beds and side tables and not much else. Tobirama eats a small, bland meal from the food the old woman packed, changes out of the travel clothes she's wearing and into slightly different travel clothes, and then lies down. It's almost strange to sleep without Madara's chakra suffusing the air around her, but she's tired enough to manage — she starts falling asleep almost as soon as she's lain down, and only barely notices the blanket being pulled over her or the hand that smooths it down over her back. 

She dreams indistinctly of running and warmth and when she wakes up it's well past noon. Afternoon light pours into the room, and Madara is sitting on the other bed. They make eye contact when Tobirama stirs. 

"Hashirama is coming," Tobirama says. She can hardly believe it, but Hashirama's chakra is unmistakable. 

"We should prepare to meet him, then," Madara says. 

The innkeep has already been told they're expecting company. Having the meeting in the inn will help keep the potential for carnage down, since it's poor business practice to trash respected civilian establishments during inter-clan conflicts. Madara opens the windows to their room and unlocks the door, so that Hashirama will be able to enter in whatever manner he chooses, but otherwise Madara does nothing. He's apparently content to wait across the room, leaning against the wall. 

At no point has Madara actually treated this like a proper hostage situation, of course, so it shouldn't be surprising that he doesn't seem to want to start now, but Tobirama can feel how fast Hashirama is approaching. He's not arriving for a peaceful discussion, no matter what she and Madara had hoped. 

Maybe Tobirama should have written the note. Maybe putting it in her handwriting would have been better. 

"Help me sit up," Tobirama requests, even though she could do it herself. 

Madara crosses the room. He leans down and, with hands Tobirama once would have expected to kill her, helps lift her so she can sit against the headboard. He resettles the blankets over her legs, and when he smoothes them down his hands brush over her thighs. 

Tobirama feels suddenly electric. She'd do anything for him to do that again, but it's an impulse that's worse than useless. 

"You should sit next to me," Tobirama says, watching Madara finish arranging the covers just so. The knitted blanket on the top catches on his calluses. 

"It's fine," Madara says. 

"No," Tobirama says. "He's early, isn't he? I thought he might not come, but instead—" Instead, Hashirama hadn't, apparently, stopped to think _at all_ , and probably still won't be thinking when he arrives, Tobirama had meant to say, but Madara interrupts. 

"You thought he _wouldn't come?_ " 

Tobirama averts her gaze. "He might not have believed the message. But he clearly has. So. Sit on the bed with me. You need to buy time to talk unless you want to fight first." 

Madara sits. With a little more beckoning, he doesn't just sit on the edge of the bed — he moves to sit against the headboard as well, on top of the blankets. The bed is narrow, only really built for one person, so they have to sit close together, but that suits Tobirama just fine. She rests her head on Madara's shoulder. He wraps an arm around her waist, pressing them closer together and supporting her. 

Hashirama closes in and only slows when he's standing in front of the inn. There's a moment, a split second, where it seems like he might just tear through the place, public clan relations be damned, but he doesn't. In what feels to Tobirama like a very, very measured pace he enters the inn, talks to the innkeep, and heads towards their room. 

"He's coming," Tobirama says softly. 

Madara's arm tightens briefly around her waist. 

The door opens. Hashirama enters, wearing full armor, and his eyes sweep the room. They settle on Tobirama first and then flick to Madara's face — which is exactly when Tobirama realizes that Madara hadn't signed the note and Hashirama doesn't yet know that Madara has hawk summons. Surprise and then betrayal flashes over his face. "Madara," he says, tone flat. 

"Hashirama," Madara says, careful, but pleasant. "You made good time." 

The barest hint of Hashirama's killing intent worms its way into the air. "Tell me what you want," he demands. 

Tobirama forces herself to sit up, away from Madara, just to prove she can — just to show Hashirama how Madara's arm loosens and then shifts so that he can rest a hand on her back to support her. "Anija," she says, a much less formal term than she would usually take in front of Madara. "It's fine." 

Hashirama only glances at her, but it's not dismissal — he's busy watching Madara for the start of a fight. In fact, his eyes flick back to Tobirama over and over again, taking in small details, probably trying to guess exactly what ordeal she's been put through since they last saw each other. 

"Tell me," Hashirama repeats. 

Madara doesn't reply to him directly, which is probably the correct course of action. Instead, he reaches to take out the documents he and Tobirama have been drawing up and presses the scroll case into Tobirama's hands. "Here," he says. Their fingers brush. "We'll negotiate on a different day." 

Tobirama holds tight to the scroll case as Madara helps her to her feet. And then — when she's on her way to Hashirama's side of the room on unsteady legs — Madara takes off out the window. 

Hashirama's body tenses like he might hare off after Madara, but he doesn't. He watches Madara go and then finally, finally turns his full attention to Tobirama. "Drop the scroll," he orders, creeping closer cautiously. 

He's worried about it being trapped, of course. It's not unreasonable, but Tobirama had watched Madara write these documents, pausing every so often to pet Bothersome Thing or ask Tobirama's opinion on some word choice or another. It won't hurt the paperwork to be dropped, though, and Tobirama can't fault Hashirama's caution. She lets it fall to the floor, where it rolls away at a good clip. 

Finally, Hashirama crosses the distance between them. His hands come up, well-telegraphed and gentle, to support her. "Tobirama," he says softly. "We feared the worst." 

Tobirama blinks hard. Hashirama's voice is choked with the emotion that she has to force down to keep from crying. "I'm fine, anija," she says, even as she leans into his hands and grasps at his sleeves. "I'm fine." 

Hashirama knows better than to contradict her when she says she's fine, but she can feel how his eyes linger on her bruised face. "It seems Father is right. My judgement is clouded." Hashirama's mouth twists into a thin line. "We looked for you, but I didn't think to suspect the Uchiha." 

The way he says _Uchiha_ is uncharacteristically hostile. 

"You shouldn't listen to Father." Tobirama leans forward, exhausted still, and leans her head lightly against Hashirama's armor. "Madara killed my captors." 

"Oh," Hashirama says, a little sheepishly. "Well, he still tried to ransom you, but I guess—" 

"It's not a ransom demand." 

"Oh," Hashirama says again. Tobirama can practically sense his bewilderment. "Maybe I owe Madara an apology...What _did_ he want?" 

Tobirama can't bring herself to say Madara wants to marry her — what if Hashirama laughs? — but also doesn't think she should skip over that part of things to say Madara wants peace between their clans. Easier to just say, "It's in the scroll." 

"Always trying to make me do my own reading," Hashirama whines. She can hear the smile in his voice. 

"Give the clanheadship to Kawarama, then," Tobirama goads, as she always does. 

Hashirama laughs, just a small chuckle but definitely a final release of tension. "I missed your sharp tongue, Tobirama," he says. "Let's go home so you can tell Kawarama what a better job he'd do than me." 

* * *

The clan is in an uproar when they arrive, because apparently Hashirama didn't even tell anyone where he was going or why before haring off towards the Mazuya Inn. Their father, sick with an illness Tobirama knows he won't recover from and only very recently retired from leading the clan, dragged himself onto the main house's engawa to better organize defenses. Kawarama had led the search through Senju territory. 

Everyone's exasperated, relieved frustration regarding Hashirama's lack of communication allows Tobirama's return to largely slip under the clan's notice, which suits Tobirama just fine. Especially the way her father doesn't so much as glance at her; Tobirama hasn't directly addressed her father since he stepped down as clan head. 

Hashirama has to go set things to rights and remove his armor, so Tobirama is passed off to a healer who checks her wounds and re-does her bandages with the practiced, efficient, and impersonal touch Tobirama is accustomed to. 

"You probably won't even scar," the healer says of the deepest cut, the one on her calf. And then, although the healer has very professionally ignored the telling yellowed bruises as not worth the chakra to heal, she very carefully and extremely politely says, "If Tobirama-sama has a need to speak confidentially of her experience in captivity...I would be available." 

It's a somewhat risky offer; this healer is no doubt skilled, but the quality of her clothes marks her as clearly from some lower, distant branch. The kind that will marry out when Konoha is established. By all rights, she probably shouldn't be attending to Tobirama, except that Hashirama had handed her off to the nearest healer he deemed acceptable with no further instruction. 

If Tobirama were more like her father, asking such a personal question without prompting could easily get this healer in trouble, but Tobirama doesn't mind the question. It was always inefficient to split the clan up and insist on formality just because some branches married in less recently than others, and it's rare enough for anyone in the clan to offer such things to her that Tobirama appreciates it despite having no intention of taking her up on it. 

"It won't be necessary," Tobirama says. 

The healer's shoulders tighten. "I understand," she mutters, lowering her eyes to focus on the bandage again. 

As usual, Tobirama has missed the mark. Too curt or too cold or one of a dozen other likely problems. She asks the healer's name. 

"Ichika," the healer says, her hands stilling on the bandage. "Tobirama-sama, I apolog—" 

"No, it's fine." Tobirama pauses. "Thank you, Ichika." 

It means a lot just to have someone ask, although the bewildered look Ichika gets is a little uncomfortable. 

A third cousin takes her back to the main house soon after, because there's nothing wrong with Tobirama that needs the specialized attentions of the healing house. The cousin starts out supporting her as she staggers along at first, and then switches to half-dragging her when that proves to be too slow. 

Tobirama makes her way into the main house alone, and gets all the way to her room without seeing anyone. She fumbles her own futon open for the first time in more than a month and barely arranges the bedding before she collapses onto it. 

* * *

She expects not wake up until morning, but no: she's woken soon after by her youngest brother entering the room. 

Itama sneaks in like he thinks maybe he shouldn't be there. Creeping slowly towards her futon, he only notices that she's awake when he's nearly on top of her. 

"Aneue," he says, looking guilty for waking her. "I had to come see you." His hands reach out and grab the edge of her blankets, clenching and relaxing around them. 

"I'm glad you did," Tobirama says. Itama is only newly twelve years old, older than he ever got in her last life, and Tobirama is still unable to be anything but damningly gentle with him and Kawarama. "Have you been good?" 

Itama bobs his head. "I learned one of your water jutsu," he says shyly. 

Tobirama isn't very well-practiced at smiling, but she tries for him. "I can't wait to see," she says. And then, suddenly realizing what he's waiting for, she says, "Come here." 

Itama worms into her arms immediately, snaking his arms around her neck and pressing his face to her shoulder. Later she knows she'll find little damp spots there. 

She falls back asleep in the middle of rubbing his back. 

* * *

Kawarama is next. He's not as hesitant about coming to see her, simply walking straight into her room, but he's more restrained in his greeting. Kawarama is fourteen and therefore twice the age he was when he died before; like all fourteen year olds he's begun pretending to be very grown up. 

"It's good you're back," is what Kawarama says. "I'm not as good at explaining to Hashirama as you are." Kawarama has inherited their father's paranoia, like Tobirama, but frequently lacks the experience to back up his worries with data. 

Tobirama thinks it might be insensitive to tell Kawarama that he'd have worked it out without her eventually — although it's true — and so instead says, "Are you just going to stand across the room?" 

She's not usually one for physical affection, but Itama is still plastered to her side and Kawarama has his arms crossed in that way Hashirama says is actually a Kawarama-style request for a hug. 

Given how quickly Kawarama crosses the room, Hashirama is probably right. 

* * *

Finally, well into the afternoon after Kawarama and Itama have provided a light meal and then hassled each other out onto the training fields so that she can rest, Hashirama arrives. He's sans armor, and clearly done with public responsibilities for the day. "There were things that needed tending," he explains apologetically, although Tobirama doesn't think she indicated any confusion as to where he'd been. 

"There always are," Tobirama acknowledges, sitting up laboriously because she's hoping for a thorough update on the state of the clan and won't get it if she's lying down like an invalid. "Did you read...?" 

"Yes," Hashirama says. He looks pensive for a moment, but then shakes his head. "That's a matter for another day, Tobirama. Today is just — just for being thankful." Hashirama's voice has gotten thick with emotion, and he doesn't say anything more. 

He just drags her into his arms, into a hug so tight it almost crushes her. Her bruises and scratches complain, but it's worth the pain. She hugs him back, desperately, with weak arms. Hashirama has never been one to hold back his emotions the way she does, and soon he's crying for both of them. His shoulders shake, and Tobirama shakes with them. 

Of course he came to retrieve her. Of course he did. How stupid of her, to have ever forgotten who her older brother really is. He'd have come for her even if it had meant certain death. 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Sleeping on the Road](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24280573) by [Votaku](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Votaku/pseuds/Votaku)




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